Luxury Australian-built Holdens to head to SKorea
Updated
Carmaker General Motors Holden Australia has announced it will start exporting luxury cars to South Korea.
The Daewoo Veritas V6 engine will be built at the company's plant in Port Melbourne and the vehicle will be assembled in South Australia.
The company has already sent 300 of the cars to Korea.
Holden's managing director, Mark Reuss, says market demand will determine how many roll off production lines.
"We're going to as many as they want and right now this is a little bit of an experiment for us but its an experiment on a broader base that demonstrates you know, General Motors Holden's commitment to Australian made cars and the export of those into different markets," he said.
The Federal Trade Minister, Simon Crean, says Holden's new export program shows the need for a free-trade agreement with South Korea.
Mr Crean says the South Korean move is timely, given the recent visit to Seoul by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to start free-trade negotiations.
"This opportunity in advance of that is going to do much to promote the significance and importance of developing the very strong trade relationship between ourselves and Korea," Mr Crean said.
He says the Republic of Korea is Australia's sixth largest trading partner, and Australia's fourth largest export market.
